Finally, something more interesting to review than assorted Tricorders and Phasers... (no, Dogbert, it's a TRICORDER :-)

VR Headset (Uncommon [TT]  #15)
Standard visual interface used by the Dominion. 
Virtual- reality eyepiece facilitates face-to-face communications and provides an unobstructed 360-by-360 view outside the ship.
Each VR Headset aboard your [Dom] ship allows one Vorta, Jem'Hadar, or Cardassian present to enhance WEAPONS and SHIELDS +1 and (if Vorta) to serve as matching commander.

Regent Worf for the Dominion, eh?  Well, for creating ship/commander pairs, it's almost as versatile, granting the ability for almost any Dominion ship to have a matching commander (unless you're playing a Founder-only deck, not uncommon with Treaties).  And it's seedable at the Primary Supply Depot, and it even provides a bit of extra bonus WEAPONS and SHIELDS even if you're not using a Vorta.  Of course, you can't beam around to all of your ships, assigning commanders at will a la Regent Worf; you have to keep the Headset with your captain.

But it's still a good matchmaker.  One of the downsides to playing a Dominion Alpha Quadrant invasion deck is that your ship is stopped after coming through the Bajoran Wormhole.  This is bad, because (1) if your opponent is playing a speed deck, one turn is a very big thing to lose, and (2) if your opponent is playing a battle deck, he has "first strike," if you will; he can take the initiative in battling your ship before you can battle with your personnel.  Wormholes or Wormhole Navigation Schematic is an option, but you have to draw those cards, and Umat'Adan, who downloads it, is tricker to play since he can't play for free (universal Jemmies can swap with free Young Jemmies at the end of the turn).  You can download him with Defend Homeworld, but most Dominion players would prefer to download Deyos that way.  So, how does the Headset get you around this abungerism?  From a defensive standpoint, you gain an extra point to your WEAPONS and SHIELDS, making a Jem'Hadar Warship 9-10-10 or a Dominion Battleship 10-12-13, which, combined with a Battle Bridge, may be enough to hold off early attacks.  If you've got a Vorta, you can use Captain's Log to boost your attributes even further... but perhaps more importantly, he counts as a matching commander for Make It So.  Discard Make It So to unstop your Warship or Battleship, move to a nearby mission and use your Ultimatum to download a Remote Supply Depot with some equipment, usually either guns or extra White.  You can either dock your ship or, RANGE permitting, start battling your opponent immediately.

One thing you might notice is that it's cumulative.  Three VR Headsets aboard your ship, and that's three extra WEAPONS and SHIELDS your ship has. Is it worth it, though?  I would seriously doubt it.  If you're using a Captain's Log, it's definitely better to give multiple ships matching commanders.  Or, if you're simply trying to pump one ship up to insanely high levels, Metaphasic/Nutational Shields and multiple Bynars Weapons Enhancements are more cost-effective.  One card play each for the Shields enhancers gives you a good +4 onto several ships (Metaphasic especially; lots of Founders and Vorta have SCIENCE) for one card play, and Bynars enhances all of your ships (not just one) by +2.  QtR/Panel Overload can take out one Bynars Weapon Enhancement, but you can get another by grabbing 10 and 01 with Quark's Rods.  Do you see anybody doing this, though?  I didn't think so.  So, why would you do it with the VR Headset, which is more ineffecient?  Short answer: don't do it.  The fact that it's cumulative is a nice bonus, but building a deck to try to exploit it isn't worth the cost. OK, if you're really dead-set on using its cumulative abilities, build a non-addict (i.e., Founders, Vorta, Goran'Agar, and miscellaneous non-[KW] personnel) Dominion deck and seed three of them at a Primary Supply Depot. Use AMS, ASP, and Defend Homeworld, Spacedoor for a Jem'Hadar Warship, and boom: 9-12-12 on the first turn, 9-15-15 if you Make It So to download Ready Room Door for a Captain's Log.  Or not quite... you need a separate Jem'Hadar/Vorta/Cardassian for each Headset you want to use.  Founders (who play for free at The Great Link) don't count, and you can't ASP Cardassians to a Dominion facility.  Eh.  Not that great, but if you're going for ship battle, the Dominion isn't the affiliation to use.  Why?  It's too hard to keep churning out ships at a decent rate.  Romulans, Klingons, Bajorans, and even Cardassians have much faster armadas than that.

OK, so it's not that great for creating invincible flying fortresses out of your ships.  However, they definitely do help you defend against opportunity battle.  Against an all-out battle deck, a Headset won't save you, but against decks that don't necessarily plan on battling (but leave the option open), a Headset will go a long ways.  Add a Captain's Log, and you've got a 9-13-13 Warship flying down the spaceline.  A Battle Bridge will make it even tougher to hit your ship.  Against a casual battle deck, it'll usually take two ships to even hit you, and you're almost guaranteed to take one of them down with you, which may be enough to discourage your opponent long enough for you to accomplish your goal, whether it be battle, mission solving, or whatever.  Ditto with the Dominion Battleship: I don't think you'll see too many players taking potshots at a 10-15-16 ship, especially with a BBSD backing you up.

Will you want to take it with you when you attempt planet missions?  It's a toss-up, but I probably would if it my opponent didn't seem to want to pick a fight.  Why?  It'll protect the more valuable Ketracel-White or (depending on how late in the game) Jem'Hadar Birthing Chambers from Common Thief.  If you don't think you'll need its bonuses, it makes a good shield for your other Equipment.  Same with Disruptor Overload: protect the most important one with Gurat'urak, and then reduce the chances of hitting another important one by adding a Headset to the pool.

The final verdict: It depends on your metagame.  Where I play, you don't see much battle at all, so I wouldn't use it (and I haven't seen anybody else use it, either.)  Similarly, if very fast battle decks run rampant, this card probably won't make much headway, so it'd be more prudent to spend your resources on other anti-battle methods.  However, if you play in an environment with either slower battle decks or heavy opportunity attack, I'd throw one in.  Seed it at the Primary Supply Depot, and take the displaced Equipment card and download it with an Ultimatum, or simply make do without it.

Next: 62nd Rule of Acquisition

Steve "Sergei Rachmaninoff" Boyles